Systems, Society and SustainabilityThe global challenge of sustainable development requires solutions and mindsets that bridge traditional divisions between nature and culture, and the technical and social sciences. Sustainable development requires that engineers and other professionals are able to include social and ecological considerations alongside technical and economic requirements in managing projects and infrastructure. This course outlines the challenges of sustainability, introduces some theories which can help think through these challenges more clearly, and applies them to the case of urban water systems.

1. Learning OutcomesUpon completion of this course you should be able to: 1. Understand the concept of sustainable development as a response to global crises of ecology and human development 2. Describe the role of engineering systems in achieving sustainable development 3. Outline key features of socio-technical systems and their relevance to the challenge of sustainable development 4. Apply theories of socio-technical systems in analysing the sustainability of urban infrastructure

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...﻿Sustainability Management
Nowadays the concept of sustainability is widely recognized in many corporations, organizations, government sectors and even in school or university. From my opinion, Sustainability is needed on a global (macro) scale, on macro-micro scale (government, NGO’s and business) and also on an individual level. The causes are: Greed and rent seeking, scarcity of resources, misuse of power, wrong moral and ethical standards. The Effects are: Climate change, rising inequality in almost all parts of the world (GINI Index), consumerism, corruption, abuse of ecosystems, etc.. Civil societies, governments and some businesses are asking for change and the creation of a “balanced social justice”. In case of abuse of social justice by one of the three major “participants” of the system (business, governments, NGOs), a vicious circle will occur and the organism is doomed to fail.
To make business, industry, nation, and the world sustainable, we have to consider the balance between People, Planet, and Profit, (or Social, Environment, and Economic) when making any decision, not for today or tomorrow, but for the future. However, most of the cases in real life, businesses see economic return as a must with highest priority, then legal requirements as something it has to do, but ethical conduct and discretionary responsibility as something they might do if they can or want to. However, a lack of...

...Social sustainable
On the hand social sustainable looks at humanitarian factors such as basic rights and equality. Which emphasize on no exploitation, fairness, socially responsible, ethics and etc (). Similarly to environmental sustainability, a different but shares the common goal.
Starbucks Social Initiative
Ethical Sourcing
Coffee, Tea, &amp; Cocoa
Starbucks take no second when it comes to ethical conducts. As an industry giant Starbucks took advantage of its power to pressure its supply chain to comply with ethical practices. Starbucks encourages ethical purchasing; this is because Starbucks believes it would help to foster a better future for farmers.
In response to protect its farmers, Starbucks launched several program and practices to set a new trend that for the industry and at the same time promotes sustainable practices such as the Fair Trade and C.A.F.E Practices. The C.A.F.E practices encompass comprehensive coffee-buying program that ensures coffee quality while promoting social, economic and environmental standards. The program itself has created a significant result on both environmental and the farmers that participated in the program. The program was considered as a success because on 2012 it was reported that 93% of the coffee bean was ethically sourced through the C.A.F.E practice and 98% of their contracts included an economic transparency clause (sb).
Regardless its coffee, tea or cocoa, Starbucks is committed to...

...﻿Sustainability
When the industrial revolution first came, people did not pay much attention to its effects on the environment, for in the early stages, the damages were not apparent. The fact that industrial activity immensely benefited people resulted in worldwide rapid growth of industries. However, the more the industries spread, the more nature suffered. People eventually became aware that not only did manufacturing factories cause air, water, and land pollution, but they also destroyed natural resources. Once the environmental damages had become more obvious, the issues could not be neglected any longer. The environmental concerns have now received attention from all segments of human society. Numerous treaties, laws and regulations have been enacted in order to maintain the environment and natural resources.
Before taking this module, like people living in the early period of the industrial revolution, I did not put my thoughts on the environmental issues or sustainability as much as I should have, for I failed to see how they would affect my life. For all my life, I have always been a city girl. I grew up in a metropolitan area in the capital city of Thailand, Bangkok, surrounded by shopping malls, cinemas, entertainment centers, and big buildings. Modern technology and internet have always been a part of me. I cannot imagine myself without my phone or internet. In spite of being a city girl, ever since I was a child,...

...A Sustainable Gift
By Abode &amp; Bod
Sustainability Transformation Report
Part A Report Plan
Contents
Introduction 1
Scope of Analysis 1
Conception Plan of Analysis 1
References 1
Introduction
To successfully transform a business into a fully sustainable business it must have no negative impact on the environment. Sustainability is balancing the needs of people living now, with those of future generations. To achieve this difficult task, organisations need to adapt a “Triple bottom line” focusing on economic, environmental and social, rather than the usual purely economic goal (Moscardo et al. 2013, p. 4).
This report aims to apply the business model of Natural Capitalism to transform Abode &amp; Bod into a sustainable organisation. Natural Capitalism is … “described as capitalism plus ecological wisdom” (Moscardo et al. 2013, p. 143). It “…describes a future in which business and environmental interests increasingly overlap, and in which businesses can better satisfy their customers' needs, increase profits, and help solve environmental problems all at the same time.”(Natural Capitalism 2013)
Abode &amp; Bod is a gift and homewares store in Wilston, Brisbane. The successful small business, operating since 2005, sells a wide range of products, such as clothing, shoes, accessories, candles and books which are sourced locally, nationally and internationally. The organisation is run by an owner, a manager and four...

...2012). This essay discusses how aviation industries efforts to a sustainable future are mere tokenism. Cited by Daley B. et al, ‘Sustainability means balancing economic, social and environmental benefits and costs of development, both for present and future generation’.
The term ‘Sustainable’ came to better light in the UN publication “Our Common Future” from 1987, better known as the Brundtland Report. It defines Sustainable development as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. (Oxford University Press, 1987 p. 43). It’s about trying to achieve a balance between a better ecology and business. The aviation industry’s promise to achieve high sustainability is limited in reality to what is portrayed. The examples of this have been mentioned in this essay.
Brundtland Report suggest that everyone has a right to sleep, eat and meet their basic needs however, aviation has impacted on the social and environmental concerns locally and globally. The local concerns include aircraft noise for people living in the airport vicinity and beneath flying paths, air pollution due to the emission of Nitrogen oxides and other gases and other impacts including habitat destruction and contamination of land and water. Communities living around congested airports can be seen as not meeting sustainability demands. This can be seen in the complaints against Heathrow airport for...

...occurs when building roads or tumbling houses to extend runways, therefore all of this damage to the environment is unsustainable. Current transport systems generate waste in terms of vehicles, parts and packaging, which must be reduced. We waste time each day by travelling. In Great Britain we spend on average 1 hour a day actually travelling. People also travel at the same time of day due to work and school creating peak periods. This influx of traffic creates congestion, leading to delays, loss in productivity and energy waste. The large number of car users and outdated road networks and infrastructure within towns and cities are also contributing factors in congestion. If we don’t change our transport trends now, then the future generations will have to cope with the serious problems that we have created. Transport infrastructure needs improving to deal with the growth in population. This growth along with the growing car ownership in the UK is not currently sustainable. We live in a society dominated by cars. 84% of NI commuters drive to work and 4 out of 5 are driven to school. In NI levels of car commuting are increasing year by year and levels of public transport usage are decreasing. This statistic should be reversed in order to achieve sustainability. The rate of single occupancy vehicles in our current transport system is too high. In Great Britain 60% of cars on the road are single occupancy vehicles. It...

...﻿ MN3481: Business, sustainability and society
The issue of defining ethics becomes problematic when debating whether one’s intentions should be taken into account. Crane and Matten define business ethics as the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed (Crane & Matten). It is argued by some that business and ethics contradict one another, thus business ethics is an oxymoron. The main purpose of many businesses is to adhere to the needs and demands of their stakeholders, in particular to their shareholders, and this puts a huge emphasis on management to maximise profit which can, as has been the case in the past, force the firm to take unethical actions. There are many other unethical issues which occur in the modern day in age but for the duration of this essay I will be using an extended example of Wal-Mart’s irresponsible dumping of hazardous waste, analysing the firm’s unethical decision using four theories.
Kantianism argues a form of deontological ethics which, as defined by Crook are “ethical systems that teach that some acts are morally obligatory without regard for their consequences" (An Intro to Christian Ethics), focuses on non-consequentialist ethics implying that actions are either ethical or unethical, regardless of the outcome of the action and instead focusing on the motivation. Immanuel Kant holds that duty, firm obedience towards ethical law,...

...﻿Environmental Systems and Societies SL
1. Systems and Models
1.1 Concepts and characteristics of systems.
1.1.1 Outline the concepts and characteristics of systems.
System: Assemblage of parts and relationships between them, which together make up a whole. The components are connected together through the transfer of energy and matter, with all parts linking and affecting each other.
Examples of these are:
atoms
cells
organ systems
communities
biomes
solar systems
universes
Systems consist of:
storages ( of matter and energy )
flows ( inputs into the system, output from the system )
processes (which transfer or transform energy or matter )
feedback mechanisms that maintain stability and equilibrium
System diagrams consist of:
boxes show storages
arrows show flows (inputs/outputs)
Diagram can be labelled with the processes on each arrow:
Photosynthesis – transformation of CO2, H2o and light into biomass and oxygen O2
Respiration – transformation of biomass into CO2 and water
Diffusion – movement of nutrients and water
Consumption – tissue transfer from trophic level to another
1.1.2 Apply the systems concept on a range of scales.
There are different scales of systems; there can be small-scale local ecosystems, large ecosystems as a biome, and a global ecosystem. For example:...